Director: James Wan
Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover
Kevin’s Rating: 8/10
Saw 2004
I first saw Saw when it came out in the theater. After my second viewing now, about fifteen years later, I have to say that it holds up really well. The problem is how to talk about it without spoilers. I know that after this many years, I’m pretty much allowed to give spoilers, but I don’t want to in case you haven’t seen it. That’s how much it matters that you go into it not knowing. And that in itself is saying a lot.
The movie starts out with Leigh Whannell, who co-wrote it with director James Wan, waking up in a tub full of water. He’s leash chained by the ankle to a pipe in a broken-down ruin of a large bathroom. Cary Elwes is leash chained by an ankle to a pipe on the other side of the room, far enough away to be out of reach, having just woken up himself moments before. There is a dead man face down on the floor between them in a pool of blood. And from there, the game begins.
With clues left by their captor, the two men must figure out why they are there and what is expected of them. With scenes of police investigating gruesome murders, flashbacks, and parallel events happening outside the trap room, we must figure it out ourselves while watching.
I recommend it highly. Imagine a puzzle, a scavenger hunt meets an escape room, and the prize is your life if you escape. But who will? And how? Gotta watch it for yourself to find out.